E-Paper
Stone crushing unit owner in Telangana ties 15-year-old boy, thrashes him for skipping work
For the last few days, the boy had not showed up for work at the stone crushing unit where his father earlier used to work but had to stop because of illness.
The police in Telangana’s Nizamabad district on Wednesday filed a criminal case against a 55-year old man for allegedly tying the limbs of a 15-year-old child labourer with a rope and beating him up indiscriminately for not coming to work at his stone crushing unit.
The video of the man dragging the boy on the street with his limbs tied with a rope and beating him with a stick went viral in the social media and was telecast in local television channels.
The incident happened at Malkapur (A) village of Nizamabad Rural block on Wednesday morning.
According to Nizamabad (Rural) police inspector Srinivasa Reddy, the 15-year old boy, who was studying Class 8, had been employed by Muddangula Balaiah in stone crushing work during the lockdown period.
The boy’s father, a close relative of Balaiah, was also a stone cutter, but he had fallen sick in the recent past and so he had been sending his son for work in Balaiah’s stone crushing unit for the last couple of months. For the last few days, the boy had not showed up for work.
“On Wednesday, Balaiah went to the boy’s residence and thrashed him indiscriminately for not coming to work regularly. He tied the boy’s limbs with a rope, dragged him on the streets and later tied him to an iron pole and beat him with a stick indiscriminately even as the boy was crying and pleading that he be let off,” the police inspector said.
The boy was later rescued by Malkapur (A) village sarpanch Sekhar Goud and his deputy Venkat Reddy and handed over to his parents.
On receiving the information, the police went to the village and took Balaiah into custody for questioning later in the evening.
“We have booked a case against him under Section 324 (voluntarily hurting a person by dangerous weapons or means) and Section 341 (wrongful confinement). We shall produce him in the court for judicial remand,” the inspector said.
